The present invention relates to a method for preparing tapioca starch balls that greatly reduces the time and effort required by a retailer or a consumer to prepare them for addition into Boba drinks and the product of this method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for the manufacturer to precook, freeze and prepackage tapioca starch balls for transport for consumer purchase from a supermarket or to a Boba drink retailer who would quickly and easily thaw and cook them for inclusion into Boba drinks using a conventional a microwave oven. The invention also includes the product of the freezing process and product of the easy thawing process.
Brightly colored sweet tea drinks called xe2x80x9cBobaxe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9cBubblexe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9cPearl Milkxe2x80x9d have gained in popularity recently. Tapioca starch balls, also known as xe2x80x9cPearl Ballsxe2x80x9d, are roughly one centimeter in diameter. To make Boba drinks, simply add some prepared Pearl Balls to milk, tea, coffee, fruit juice, coconut milk, hot chocolate, etc. The drink can be served either hot or cold, and is drunk using a large diameter straw. The drink""s unusual nature is increased by the combination of the exotic drink sipped through the large diameter straw and the gummy tapioca balls that can also be cleanly extracted from the bottom of the drink and eaten with the drink by sucking them up through the straw.
The Pearl Balls have an attractive pearl-like appearance and come in a variety of colors as well as the more common black. The color of the Pearl Balls can even be mixed and matched with the color of the drink to add to the drinking experience. The Pearl Balls prepared by the method of the instant invention are vitamin and mineral enriched and are all natural and remain fresh without added preservatives or artificial colors. They have a unique, chewy and gummy texture. They can be included in either hot or cold drinks.
Boba drinks have been very popular in Asia for years. The popularity of Boba drinks has recently expanded beyond the Asian-American community and is beginning to enter American mainstream pop culture. A small group of entrepreneurs have fueled the mainstreaming of these drinks into American culture through trendy tea bars popping up around colleges and other stylish places around the country. While the consumption of coffee has declined 20% over the past five years, tea consumption has increased 3%. The tea bar entrepreneurs are hoping that Boba drinks will continue this trend.
The tapioca starch balls are made from starch. Starch is generally a mixture of two structurally different polysaccharides. One component termed, amylose, is a linear molecule composed of 250 to 300 d-glucopyranose units uniformly linked by a-1,4 glucosidic bonds which tend to cause the molecule to assume a helix like shape. The second component, amylopectin, consists of 1000 or more glucose units of which most are also connected with a- 1,4 linkages, but there are also a number of a-1,6 links occurring at branch points. These links amount to about 4 per cent of the total linkages or one for approximately every 25 glucose units. The tapioca Starch is made of cassava roots contains approximately 17% amylose and 83% amylopectin.
When a starch-thickened mixture is stirred as it cools, its viscosity normally increases. Through a cooking and cooling process, there is a tendency for intermolecular bonds with free water and bound water to form a gel.
Retrogradation can be regarded as a normal progression in the firming of a starch gel. The rate and extent of retrogradation are influenced by temperature, size, shape, and concentration of the starch molecules and by other ingredients. It appears to occur most rapidly at temperature near 0 degrees Celsius.
To retard retrogradation of the gel to the least possible level, a freezing system including a liquid nitrogen spray method is employed to bring the tapioca ball temperature quickly down to penetrate the 0 degrees Celsius zone and continue lowering the temperature to between xe2x88x9220 and xe2x88x9225 degrees Celsius within a short period of time. This process allows the free water in the starch granule to form fine ice crystals that help the starch to withhold its normal characteristics until the product is thawed. If a more conventional tapioca ball freezing process is employed, upon thawing the tapioca starch balls will not have its juicy and gummy texture.
Thawing frozen tapioca starch balls with a microwave oven is not only a faster way to thaw the balls than the conventional method, but using a microwave oven allows the Boba drink maker to thaw the tapioca starch balls just before she plans to serve them thus maintaining the highest juiciness and quality and avoiding over drying through the dripping phenomenon.
The effect of immersing the whole block of frozen precooked tapioca balls into a predetermined amount of hot water is that through heat conduction the first part of the frozen precooked tapioca starch ball that thaws is the free water crystal. This makes the frozen precooked tapioca ball becomes porous and greatly increases the speed of the microwave oven thawing process. The thawing speed of frozen food using a microwave oven depends on the density of the frozen food. When the free water crystal inside of each frozen precooked tapioca balls thaws, the density of each pearl ball decreases and the thawing speed is increased. The submersion of the block into hot water during the thawing process ensures even heating of each ball and avoids a situation where part of the block of frozen precooked tapioca balls is scorched and another part of the same block is still frozen.
The size and shape of the frozen food greatly affects the speed of the thawing process. It is possible to freeze the tapioca starch balls into an optimal shape. This shape is optimal because it will facilitate rapid and even microwave oven thawing. For instance, an optimally shaped block of frozen precooked tapioca balls can be a 15.5 cmxc3x9711.5 cmxc3x972.0 cm. Each such block weighs 300 grams. Each such block contains enough tapioca starch balls for the production of eight Boba drinks.
Until now the only method to prepare the tapioca starch balls was to submerge dried tapioca starch balls in boiling water in a covered pot for twenty minutes over a medium level flame on a stove top. Next turn off the flame. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the pot. Let it sit for thirty-five minutes. Use a net strainer to drain off the hot water. Rinse and cool the balls using tap water. Transfer the balls to a dry container. Gently mix the balls with some amount of white sugar until an even coating is achieved. The total preparation time is about an hour. Then, store at room temperature and serve within 6 hours.
The conventional method of preparation poses special problems for the retailer. The conventional method of preparation requires a stove and other equipment not usually found in a tea or beverage bar or a coffee house. The preparation equipment used in the conventional method requires a lot of space that the entrepreneur desperately needs to use efficiently to remain competitive. Another disadvantage of the conventional method is that the prepared starch balls must be used within six hours. After six hours the starch balls take on an undesirable consistency. The difficult preparation method forces the entrepreneur to face the difficult alternatives of possibly running out of tapioca balls due to high demand or preparing too many tapioca balls and not being able to sell the entire amount within six hours. The conventional method of preparing the tapioca balls also require the workers to possess a certain minimum skill level that demands training and leads to higher worker compensation costs. These difficulties make selling the Boba tea a risky business proposition.
The conventional method of preparation poses special problems for the consumer. The conventional method of preparation requires a stove and other equipment that the typical consumer uses infrequently. Another disadvantage of the conventional method is that the prepared starch balls must be used within six hours. After six hours the starch balls take on an undesirable consistency. The difficult preparation method forces the consumer to face the difficult alternatives of possibly running out of tapioca balls due to high demand, or preparing too many tapioca balls and not being able to use the entire amount within six hours, or drinking the beverage without the pearl balls. A typical consumer does not have the requisite training and skill level needed with the conventional method and may not have the desire or time to acquire it. These difficulties reduce the sales of pearl balls to the consumer.
What is needed in the industry is a method of preparing the tapioca starch balls that moves the time consuming, equipment demanding, and labor intensive process of cooking the dried tapioca starch balls to the tapioca starch ball manufacturer and moves to a retailer or a consumer an easily repeatable time saving microwave oven thawing/cooking process of preparing the preprocessed tapioca starch balls. This change will reduce the investments in time and equipment thus reducing the cost of production for the retailer or the consumer.
An objective of this invention is to provided a simple and time saving method of preparing tapioca starch balls that employs a microwave and other devices typically found in a home, tea bar or coffee house. Another objective is to remove the cooking process from the retail Boba drink seller and place it with the tapioca starch ball manufacturer. Still another objective is to reduce the equipment needed to prepare the tapioca starch balls and also free the Boba drink retailer from having to provide the space for this specialized equipment in her shop. Yet another objective is to provide a low cost, easy and time saving method for a consumer to prepare pearl balls for Boba drinks. A further objective of the invention is to create a method of preparation that is easy for an unskilled worker to perform and still create tasty and gummy tapioca starch balls. Yet another objective of the instant invention is to provide an easily repeatable and low cost preparation method that makes it possible to produce enough tapioca starch balls to satisfy retail demand and reduce possible losses due to over production. Another objective of the present invention is to have a method of preparing the tapioca starch balls that allows them to be vitamin and mineral enriched and manufactured without preservatives. Yet another objective of the present invention is to develop a method to produce a conveniently sized, prepackaged frozen tapioca starch balls that makes it possible for a retailer or a consumer to prepare a low volume of pearl balls. This would make it feasible for a retailer or a consumer to stock tapioca starch balls in many different colors.
The present invention resides in a method of preparing the edible starch balls for inclusion in drinks or food. The method of preparing the edible starch balls for inclusion in drinks or food includes the following steps: Precooking the dry starch balls. Freezing the precooked starch balls. Thawing, cooking and preparing the frozen precooked starch balls for consumption.
The details of the method of precooking the dry starch balls include the following steps: Filling a container with hot water. Submerging the dry starch balls into water at a first predetermined temperature held in the container. Stirring the submerged dry starch balls to avoid clumping and sticking. Covering the container with a lid. Cooking the starch balls for a first predetermined span of time. Stopping the heating process. Uncovering the container. Stirring the mixture. Re-covering the container. Letting the mixture sit in the covered container for a second predetermined span of time without adding any heat. Draining off the hot water by pouring the mixture through a net strainer. Rinsing and cooling the starch balls held by the net strainer with tap water. Transporting the precooked starch balls to the freezing device.
The first predetermined temperature is 100 degrees Celsius.
The details of the method for freezing the precooked starch balls include the following steps: Pre-cooling the precooked starch balls to a second predetermined temperature. Placing the pre-cooled, precooked starch balls in a cryogenic safe container or one that would not be damaged by exposure to the very cold temperatures used in the process. Placing the cryogenic safe container onto a cryogenic safe conveyor belt running through a tunnel in the freezer device. Spraying cooling agent at a third predetermined temperature into the tunnel and around the cryogenic safe container to lower the air temperature in the tunnel to a fourth predetermined temperature. Conveying the container through the tunnel for a third predetermined span of time resulting in lowering the core temperature of each starch ball to at least a fifth predetermined temperature. Removing the container from the cryogenic safe conveyor. Packaging the frozen starch balls for shipment in a manner that maintains a core temperature of the starch balls of at least a sixth predetermined temperature. Transporting the packaged starch balls by a method that maintains a core temperature of the starch balls of at least a sixth predetermined temperature.
The details of the method for thawing, cooking and preparing the frozen precooked starch balls for consumption include the following steps: Placing the frozen precooked starch balls in a suitable microwave safe container. Submerging all of the frozen precooked starch balls into water at a seventh predetermined temperature held in the microwave safe container. Cooking the mixture in a microwave oven for a fourth predetermined span of time. Removing the microwave safe container from the microwave oven. Stirring the mixture. Covering the mixture in the suitable microwave safe container with a lid. Letting the mixture sit in the covered suitable microwave safe container for a fifth predetermined span of time. Draining off the water by pouring the mixture through a net strainer. Rinsing and cooling the starch balls held by the net strainer with tap water. Transferring the starch balls to a dry container. Coating the starch balls evenly with sugar to avoid clumping by gently mixing said tapioca starch balls with a predetermined quantity of sugar. Storing the starch balls at room temperature. Serving the starch balls within a sixth predetermined span of time after cooking.
The method of preparation detailed above can be used to prepare taro starch balls, sweet potato starch balls and sticky rice starch balls.
The seventh predetermined temperature is at least 80 degrees Celsius.